Hello Members of the W3C.
Just writing in to register my opinion on your proposal to allow
patents that are licensed with RAND licensing terms into official W3C
standards. I think this is a bad idea.
Having been involved with standards committees in the past, inclusion
of patented material without open licensing terms leads in only one
direction - towards a reduction in participation and compliance with
the standard.
In the case that a standards committee is created only for the benefit
of and composed only of corporate members, this reduction in
participation can frequently be considered "good strategy". However,
the W3C looks out for the interests of many institutions and
organizations that have no ability or desire to pay royalties for
compliance with W3C standards.
To continue down this route is to assure the long term irrelevance of
the W3C. The lack of leadership and chaos this will create in the web
standards community will surely cost us all in the long run.
In summary, please reconsider.
Sincerely,
Nathan Tuck